Florida Senate - 2023                             (NP)    SR 138
       
       
        
       By Senator Berman
       
       
       
       
       
       26-00351-23                                            2023138__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing March 2023 as “Triple
    3         Negative Breast Cancer Awareness Month” and March 3,
    4         2023, as “Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Awareness Day”
    5         in Florida.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, breast cancer is among the most commonly diagnosed
    8  cancers and is the second leading cause of cancer death among
    9  women in the United States, and
   10         WHEREAS, some 287,850 women were diagnosed with breast
   11  cancer in 2022 and more than 43,000 were expected to die from
   12  this malignancy, and
   13         WHEREAS, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of
   14  many forms of breast cancer and accounts for between 15 and 30
   15  percent of all diagnosed invasive breast cancer cases
   16  nationwide, and
   17         WHEREAS, of the new breast cancer cases diagnosed in the
   18  United States in 2019, more than 53,700 were TNBC, with higher
   19  prevalence among younger women; black and Hispanic women; women
   20  with type 2 diabetes or carrying excess weight in the abdominal
   21  area; and those women with BRCA1 mutations, and
   22         WHEREAS, due to its aggressive behavior, TNBC grows quickly
   23  and is more likely to have spread by the time it is found and to
   24  recur after treatment than other types of breast cancer, and
   25         WHEREAS, people diagnosed with metastatic TNBC have less
   26  than a 30 percent chance of surviving 5 years after diagnosis,
   27  and
   28         WHEREAS, TNBC cells do not contain and are considered
   29  negative for the three key receptors that medicines typically
   30  target in other types of breast cancers and, therefore, limited
   31  treatment options are available to treat this cancer, and
   32         WHEREAS, while patients with an early diagnosis can often
   33  be treated with chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, the
   34  limited availability of therapies that specifically address the
   35  management of TNBC has made treating this disease a challenge
   36  for clinicians, and
   37         WHEREAS, recent innovations in targeted therapies have
   38  fueled advances in the fight against TNBC, and
   39         WHEREAS, studies have shown that TNBC-disease-specific
   40  mortality rates are often higher if patients are enrolled in
   41  Medicaid or Medicare or have a lower socioeconomic status and
   42  that black women are 48 percent less likely than non-Hispanic
   43  white women to receive guideline-adherent care and have
   44  approximately a twofold higher mortality incidence, resulting in
   45  a disproportionately higher risk of death from TNBC, and
   46         WHEREAS, advances in breast cancer screening and treatment
   47  over the last few decades have reduced the overall breast cancer
   48  mortality rate, yet the disproportionate impact of TNBC on
   49  racial and ethnic minority communities raises considerations of
   50  the underlying determinants driving the disparities, and
   51         WHEREAS, it is necessary to promote TNBC education, to
   52  raise awareness about the disease-related disparities, and to
   53  tackle inequities within the health care delivery system, such
   54  as inadequate access to screening, diagnostic testing, and care,
   55  to improve early detection and survival, NOW, THEREFORE,
   56  
   57  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   58  
   59         That March 2023 is recognized as “Triple-Negative Breast
   60  Cancer Awareness Month” and March 3, 2023, is recognized as
   61  “Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Awareness Day” in Florida.